EASTER • 8

Introduction to the Season of Pentecost: Moving with Christ for Life@Work

The Day of Pentecost was a national Jewish holiday – their Labour Day. God had instructed his people in Exodus 23:16, to feast on that day, saying,

“You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labour, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labour.”

On the Day of “Pentekoste” – “fiftieth” referring to festival on the 50th Day after Passover, they were to bring sacrifices to worship the Lord for the harvest blessing that God had given them by abstaining from ordinary work, as well and leave some crop in the field for the poor and foreigners living among them (Lev. 23:15–22, Deut. 16:9–10).

This festival which was first instituted in Exodus 23:10-19, along with the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Passover), provided the backbone and start of a brand-new identity for the Israelites as a nation. In the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, they would be remined of how God had just rescued them out of Egypt and that they were no longer slaves. In the Feast of Pentecost, they were to constantly remember that it was the Lord who had provided abundantly for all their needs – giving them the land and the fruit of the land from which they receive their harvest, so they could rest from work on that Day and after that, work from a place of rest. 

Keeping these festivals and abiding with the rest of the Law of Moses would make them God’s covenant people, transforming them from slaves into sons. In these life-giving laws and festivals, God was giving His instructions on how to live prosperous and abundant lives with God and one another so that when they entered the land that God was leading them into, they would live as salt and light, revealing the truth and goodness of who God is and how the other nations around them could also learn how to build livelihoods and societies that would flourish.

In the New Testament, the Church was born on the Day of Pentecost. Was it by chance that the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ first disciples on that special Jewish holiday? What did it reveal about the promises of God in the Scriptures and His purposes in the world and their place in it? How did it transform their own sense of identity and their relationship to the people of other nationalities living among them? What new meaning and significance to life and work did the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His continued Presence in the world bring for them? How did being filled with the Holy Spirit, authorise, and empower them to begin to move with Christ in fresh and unprecedented ways? As we journey together through the season with the Gospel of Matthew and other lectionary passages, let us also, by the equipping and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, learn to move with Christ for Life @ Work.

Who is the Holy Spirit and How Is He at Work Around Us?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 23 MAY

John 20:19-23

The Enabling Spirit of Christ Authorizes Christ’s Disciples

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    John 20:19-23

    19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

    We revisit the same passage we encountered last month, during the Easter season. However, this time we focus our attention on Jesus’ impartation of the Holy Spirit to his disciples, empowering them to participate in His work of New Creation.

    Right after the resurrected Lord announces ‘peace’ is in their midst, He commissions His disciples as the ambassadors of the Good News of the Kingdom of God, saying, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (v. 21). As Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, imparting to them the same Spirit that rested upon him at his baptism, the same Spirit that led him to victorious battle over Satan in the Wilderness, they would have remembered the promises of the Spirit or Advocate who would sustain them (John 14:26; 15:26–27; 16:7b–11, 12–15).

    More than this, Jesus’ act of breathing on the disciples recalls the creative breath of God bringing life into being in Genesis 2:7. Thus Christ’s mission continues by the power of the Spirit, who simultaneously represents the continuing presence of the risen Christ with his disciples and the creative power of God constantly at work, bringing life to all of Creation itself.

  • REFLECT

John 17 is Jesus’s prayer to his Father for us. It is a prayer that we may have eternal life, which is to know the Father and Jesus. It is a prayer to the Father for us to be kept in the Father’s name.

As the body of Christ let us join in the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to the Father by praying this words to the Father.

reading for: Wednesday Night, 24 MAY

Acts 2:1-21

The Manifested Spirit of Christ Births the Church

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    2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

    5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

    14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

    17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
        and your young men shall see visions,
        and your old men shall dream dreams;
    18 even on my male servants and female servants
        in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
    19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
        and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
    20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
        and the moon to blood,
        before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
    21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

    This miraculous speech, by Peter, after the powerful manifestation of “divided tongues, as of fire” (v. 3) that rested upon the disciples, stands in total contrast to the tower of Babel and the division of languages then imposed (Genesis 11:1-9). The gift of the Spirit broke down this dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles (all non-Jewish people). “All (Jews) were amazed and perplexed” (v. 12), when they heard rural Galilean Jews suddenly speaking foreign languages and not all were ready to accept the phenomenon as something from God. Some reduced the event to intoxication from “new wine” (v. 13), that is, particularly potent wine (some pagan oracles made use of alcohol). Peter stood up and refuted this possibility in his speech (v. 15) and then explained the event as the fulfillment of the end-time prophecy of the prophet Joel.

    Peter cites Joel 2:28–32 in verses 17–21, proclaiming that the gospel of Jesus is for everyone regardless of ethnicity or creed. The effect of God’s pouring out “my Spirit upon all flesh” (v. 17). “All flesh” includes people of all ages and sexes, all humans: “even on my male servants and female servants, … they shall prophesy” (v. 18). The latter part of the quotation describes other signs of the last days, “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below” (v. 19). These dramatic cosmic manifestations (v.19-20) — the darkening of the sun and the turning of the moon to the colour of blood—signify a fundamental transformation of creation that will come with “the Lord’s great and glorious day” (v. 20), when “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v. 21).

    The “Day of the Lord [YHWH]” in Scriptures speak of the day of God’s judgment and retribution (Amos 5:18–20, Zeph. 1:7–16), and God is represented by the divine figure of the Son of Man (see Daniel 7:9, 13-14). Peter remarks toward the end of his speech that “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified” (v. 36), is declaration that Jesus is this “Lord” of the divine judgment. That’s why the “name of the Lord” (v. 21) by which people call upon God in repentance for forgiveness (v. 38) is the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).

  • REFLECT

    The Church, as the Body of Christ is a spiritual entity above all else. It is born of the Holy Spirit and empowered to continue the declaration of the gospel in word and deed until Christ, the Head of the Church returns to judge. Baptised persons become a part of this dynamic spiritual entity and participate in this new reality, through the Holy Spirit and fellowship with other disciples. That’s why in the letters of Paul to the churches, he is always calling and admonishing them to leave their old, sinful lives behind and to embrace and live-out their new reality, in faith, hope and love, for one another in anticipation of the Lord’s return, where they will be raised to judge nations and reign with Him.

    Can you see the gospel at work in the lives of the people around you? Share some stories to encourage and build-up one another.

reading for: Thursday Night, 25 MAY

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

The Same Spirit Works Unity in the Church through Diverse Gifts

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    1 Corinthians 12:3-13

    3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

    4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

    12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

    In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he pleads for unity in the church. Writing passionately to them, he responds to the various issues raised that are causing dissention, including the manifestation of spiritual gifts in worship and the life of the church. Dealing with this issue in our passage, Paul stresses the diversity and complementary nature of spiritual gifts, with the goal of correcting their self-centred and divisive understanding of these graces, teaching that they come from the same source – the Holy Spirit (v.11), who gives these gifts for the building up of the entire church.

    The immediate reason for Paul’s strong corrective seems to have been that some church members were claiming that certain gifts were more important than others, in order to elevate themselves in status and power within the church. It seems that those who spoke in tongues might have been asserting that they were more spiritual than others.

    Whatever the case, Paul makes it clear that the source of these gifts is not the individual himself or herself but the Holy Spirit. These gracious endowments from God are not simply waiting to be activated by a bit of individual effort. They all come from God and cannot be used as means of gaining high status in the church.

    Paul also emphasizes the great diversity of these graces, insisting that all Christians receive gifts, not just an elite few. And the Christian life and ministry are not the personal property of an exclusive class or group of special individuals.

    And since all such gifts come from the same Spirit and gifts have a definite purpose: the edification of the whole community. A real spiritual gift is not bestowed on individuals for their own private spiritual enjoyment. Real spirituality is not found in the immersion of private emotional highs, mystical thrills, or even an individual sense of peace or private ecstasy. The the gifts are given in order to build up the church. They are intended to be publicly communicable, publicly shared, and publicly activated for the entire church community.

    The plural and diverse nature of these gifts is not an accident. The variety and multidimensional aspects of talents and experiences in the Christian community is necessary to reach the goal of being brought to unity. In verses 4–6 the same Spirit, Lord, and God are manifested in the multiplicity of gifts, services, and activities. The church, as a spiritual entity, is to reflect the unity and diversity found in Father, Son and Spirit. Empowered by the Spirit, diverse individuals and families arrive at the same conclusion and confession that “Jesus is Lord”, speaking and acting in ways consistent with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and sharing in the work of Christ in the Body for the sake of the world, by the Holy Spirit.

  • REFLECT

    Ps Jason’s sermon last Sunday reminds us that ‘serving is for you to grow closer to God (into a beautiful person)’ and ‘serving is for you to make friends/grow your relationships’. How might we avoid the pitfalls of the Corinthian church as we work to build up the church in CNL as we use our natural and spiritual gifts, talents and experiences? Discuss this in your Life Groups.

reading for: Friday Night, 26 MAY

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

The Spirit Creates and Sustains Creation

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     Psalm 104:24-34

    24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
        In wisdom have you made them all;
        the earth is full of your creatures.
    25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
        which teems with creatures innumerable,
        living things both small and great.
    26 There go the ships,
        and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

    27 These all look to you,
        to give them their food in due season.
    28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
        when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
    29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
        when you take away their breath, they die
        and return to their dust.
    30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
        and you renew the face of the ground.

    31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
        may the Lord rejoice in his works,
    32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
        who touches the mountains and they smoke!
    33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
        I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
    34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
        for I rejoice in the Lord.

    35b …Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    Praise the Lord!

     

    The psalmist calls on whole order of creation to praise God for His work in creating and sustaining it. In the first part, Psalm 104:1-23, he praises various parts of the creation as evidence and a manifestation of God’s power and goodness: the sky, the rain, the mountains, the wonderful water that is such a great gift to the dry lands where the psalmist lives, the trees, and even the darkness is given for animals to hunt at night.

    In our lectionary passage, the psalmist also speaks to the deep fear of the sea. In Genesis 1:1–2, in the sea, chaos has great presence at the beginning of creation; but here in the psalm, even the scary sea is seen as part of God’s wise creation. In the Old Testament, during the Exodus event, the Israelites are terrified of the sea and the “creeping things” in it (v. 25), but now here in this psalm, even Leviathan, the menacing sea monster elsewhere (Ps. 74:14), now plays about in the sea (v. 26). This reminds us that all of Creation acts and moves within the unsearchable knowledge and purposes of God.

    Also standing behind these praises of creation is a confidence that God is present and continually at work within His Creation and sustaining it on an on-going and regular basis. This psalm is also not just a ‘feel good’ poem, but rather a ballad about where each of us lives. The psalmist affirms that at ground-level, we find the existence of a powerful, generous and gracious God. At the heart of our very hearts is the Spirit of God who knows our names and it is this the same Spirit who called out those men and women to proclaim the mighty acts of God on Pentecost.

  • REFLECT

    The Spirit of God flows through all and in all, in ways that are both available to us on a daily basis and also beyond our capacity to understand. On the day of Pentecost, the crowds who heard the announcement of the good news that Christ was crucified, raised and ascended according to Scriptures and has poured out His Spirit on all flesh asked, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12). When we ask this question too, if we create silence and solitude in our lives, we will have hearts to receive. And we will find God at the centre of our lives, indeed at the centre of all of life. And when we do, how do we respond to this incredible revelation? To join all Creation in praising God for as long as we live.

    Spend time in nature this week or make plans for a little retreat away from the hustle and bustle of busy Singapore life. Let Creation around you testify of God’s goodness and be refreshed and renewed in your heart, mind and soul, so your incense rises to the Lord and praises ring out to God loud and strong.

Season of EasterCNL